Getting Started With OJS

Introduction to Open Journal Systems (OJS)

What is OJS?

“Is a journal management and publishing system that has been developed by the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) through its federally funded efforts to expand and improve access to research” (http://pkp.sfu.ca/ojs/).

OJS assists the user with each step of the refereed publishing process. OJS supports each step of the submission, review, editing, formatting, publication, and indexing processes. Furthermore, OJS is an open source software made freely available to journals and currently supports over thirty languages. OJS offers journals the option of considering online open access publishing, but also supports subscription-based or partial-subscription publication models.

What is PKP?

“PKP is a multi-university initiative developing (free) open source software and conducting research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing” (http://pkp.sfu.ca/).

PKP has two institutional anchors, Stanford University and Simon Fraser University Library, and four major development partners, California Digital Library, Ontario Council of University Libraries, University of British Columbia Libraries, and University of Pittsburgh Libraries.

In addition to Open Journal Systems, PKP projects include: Open Conference Systems, Open Monograph Press, and Open Harvester Systems.

For a quick video introduction to OJS and PKP, check this video from PKP’s “OJS for Journal Managers” course: Introduction to PKP and OJS.

OJS at Northeastern University?

Open Journal System is an open source journal publishing system supported by Northeastern University Libraries. With Open Journal System, users can manage many aspects of the serial publishing workflow, including managing submissions, editing and indexing content, maintaining subscriptions, among others.

Northeastern Libraries’ instance of Open Journal System is still in the development phase. If you would like more information about an anticipated start date, please contact us by filling out the form located here.

Resource List

There are quite a few resources that can guide a user through the various steps of using and managing an OJS installation. A more comprehensive list is in development, but these resources will be invaluable to users interested in using OJS.

User Roles in OJS

“OJS uses a comprehensive roles system to divide work between users, assign workflows, and limit access to different parts of the system” (Roles in OJS). Users of OJS can be assigned multiple roles within the same journal or assigned different roles for multiple journals within the same installation. Please note that for many journals Editors or Section Editors often fill the roles of Copyeditors, Layout Editors, and/or Proofreaders depending on the individual journal’s task assignment and policies directing workflow.

On this page, we will provide a brief description of the responsibilities and capabilities of the various user roles. For a more detailed description of the user roles in OJS please consult the OJS User Guide. Wherever available, links will be provided to the appropriate chapters in the User Guide for a given user role.

Journal Manager

The Journal Manager is responsible for setting up the journal website, configuring system options, and managing user accounts. The Journal Manager also assigns roles to users, can create new journal sections, edit review forms and default emails, manage Reading Tools, configure and activate OJS plugins, and view Statistics and Reports for the journal. For more information on the Journal Manager, please consult Chapter 4: Journal Management.

Editor

The Editor is responsible for overseeing the entire submission, review, editing, and publishing process. Working with the Journal Manager, the Editor often establishes the policies and procedures for the journal. The Editor often assigns new submissions to a Section Editor, who oversees the review process and editing (copyediting, layout editing, and proofreading). The Editor also creates the journal issues, schedules submissions for publication, arranges the Table of Contents, and publishes the issue. For more information on the Editor, please consult Chapter 6: Editors.

Section Editor

The Section Editor oversees the review and editing process for submissions that are assigned to them by the Editor. Depending on your journal’s task assignment, Section Editors might also assume the roles of Copyeditor, Layout Editor, and/or Proofreader. For more information on the Section Editor, please consult Chapter 7: Section Editors.

Copyeditor

The Copyeditor edits submissions to improve grammar and clarity, works with authors to ensure everything is in place, ensures strict adherence to the journal's bibliographic and textual style, and produces a clean, edited copy for the Layout Editor to turn into the galleys that will be in the published format of the journal. For more information on the Copyeditor, please consult Chapter 9: Copyeditors.

Layout Editor

The Layout Editor transforms the copyedited versions of submissions into galleys in HTML, PDF, PS, etc. -- files which the journal has elected to use for electronic publication. Please note that OJS does not have an internal mechanism for document conversion, so the Layout Editor must have access to and be able to use a third-party software for document conversion and styling. For more information on the Layout Editor, please consult Chapter 10: Layout Editors.

Proofreader

The Proofreaders carefully reads through the galley file, produced by the Layout Editor, noting typographical and formatting errors for the Layout Editor to correct before publication. For more information on the Proofreader, please consult Chapter 11: Proofreaders.

Author

Authors submit their work to the journal directly through the journals website. Authors upload their submission file, provide metadata and/or indexing information, and can upload supplementary files to accompany their submission. By logging in to the journal website, Authors can track their submission through and participate in the review and editorial process. For more information on the Author, please consult Chapter 5: Authors.

Reviewer

The Reviewer is selected by the Section Editor to review a submission. Reviewers are asked to submit reviews to the journal's web site and are able to upload attachments for the use of the Editor and Author. For more information on the Reviewer, please consult Chapter 8: Reviewers.

Reader

The Reader role is the simplest role in OJS, and has the fewest capabilities. Readers include both subscribers for journals for which access is subscription-based, and readers who choose to register for open access journals. Registered Readers receive a notification email with the publication of each issue, which includes the Table of Contents for that particular issue. For more information on the Reader, please consult Chapter 12: Readers.

Subscription Manager

The Subscription Manager manages the journal's subscriptions and subscription types, and can also configure where and how payments are handled within the system. This role is only available when a journal has activated subscriptions in OJS. For more information on subscriptions, please consult section 2.12 of the OJS User Guide: Subscriptions.

Editorial and Publishing Workflow in OJS

PKP has produced a very helpful chart detailing the Editorial Workflow in OJS. For more information about the workflow consult the OJS User Guide.

Creating and Setting Up Your Journal

Creating a New Journal

Creating a new journal in OJS is a fairly simple process but only the Site Administrator has permission to do so. If you are interested in creating a new journal but are not the Site Administrator, please contact them.

Log-in to your OJS installation as Site Administrator. Then click “User Home” in the navigation bar. After that click the “Site Administrator” link.
From the Site Administrator page, click “Hosted Journals” under the heading “Site Management.”
Clicking “Hosted Journals” will direct you to a list of all the Journals already created for your OJS installation. To create a new journal, just click the “Create Journal” link:
You will then be prompted to fill out a few main fields in order to create this journal. The majority of the Journal setup will be the responsibility of the Journal Manager, not the Site Administrator, but to create the Journal one must fill out the “Journal Title,” “Journal Description,” “Path,” and choose whether or not the new journal will be publicly viewable. Only the “Journal Title” and “Path” are required.
Once you have filled the necessary fields, click “Save,” and the new Journal will be created with you (the Site Administrator) automatically enrolled as its the Journal Manager. From the Journal Manager role for this new journal, you can then enroll users into the new journal, assign appropriate user roles, and begin the Setup process.

Setting Up Your Journal

Once a journal has been created by the Site Administrator, the Journal Manager can begin the 5-Step process for setting up a new journal. There are two easy ways to navigate to the Setup page. Sign in to an account that has been assigned the Journal Manager role, and click on “User Home” in the navigation bar. There is a quick link to “Setup” on the User Home screen next to “Journal Manager.” Alternatively, if one clicks the “Journal Manager” link, one can choose “Setup” on the next page.

For a more detailed look at the 5-Step Setup Process in OJS, consult our Setup Guide.

Managing Users and Creating Accounts

OJS supports multiple ways for creating user accounts. Depending on your journal’s registration settings (Step 4.3 Management, Journal Setup) some users (Readers, Reviewers, Authors) can self-register for your journal content or you may require the Journal Manager to create and register each user account. This guide will walk you through creating a new user as the Journal Manager, assigning roles to users as Journal Manager, merging multiple user accounts into one account, and the self-registration process.

Creating a New User

Log in as Journal Manager and click “User Home” in the navigation bar. From “User Home” click on “Journal Manager” to open up Journal Manager admin options. Under the “Users” headline, click “Create New User” to begin setting up the account:
Clicking “Create New User” will direct you to a simple form where you can input information about the user you are creating. In this form you can input personal information, create a username, assign a password, assign a user role, and fill in user profile information (E.g., Affiliation, Reviewing Interests, Bio Statement).
The only required fields here are First Name, Last Name, Username, Password, and Email Address. OJS also has an option for generating a random password, if desired. You can also select options to send a welcome email to new users with the assigned username and password and/or require users to change their password when first logging in. It is important to note that only one account can be registered to an email address.
When you have filled in the required fields and any additional information you wish to include scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save”. If you are creating multiple accounts in one sitting there is also an option to “Save and Create Another.” If you selected the “Send the user a welcome email containing their username and password” option, the user will receive an automated email after clicking save. The user can then sign in and edit or input additional information for their user profile by logging in and navigating to “User Home.”

Assigning User Roles

The Journal Manager is also responsible for assigning user roles to registered accounts. After creating an account, whether self-registered or created by the Journal Manager, the Journal manager can enroll users into desired user roles. Log in as the Journal Manager, navigate to the “User Home” page, and click “Journal Manager” for admin options.
Under “Users”, click “Enroll a User from this Site in this Journal.” This will direct you to a page called “Enrollment,” which shows a list of all user accounts registered to the site.
To enroll a user to a new role, simply check which user or users you wish to assign to a given role. Then, using the drop-down menu for “Enroll user as” select the appropriate role. These options change depending on whether you decided to create Copyeditor, Layout Editor, and/Proofreader roles or assign these tasks to Editors and Section Editors (4.5-4.7 Management, Journal Setup). When you have selected the desired user and user role, click “Enroll Selected Users” to make the change.

Merging User Accounts

Sometimes a user might create multiple accounts for an OJS installation (or a user might self-register when the Journal Manager has already created an account for the user). To resolve this, OJS allows the Journal Manager to easily merge user accounts. After logging in as the Journal Manager, navigate to “User Home” and click “Journal Manager.” Next, click the “Merge Users” link under “Users.” This will take you to a list of all users assigned to the journal. To merge users, simply click the two accounts you want to merge and click “Merge Users”. The account(s) selected first will be deleted and any submissions, assignments, etc. will be attributed to the second account.

User Self-Registration

Depending on the Registration Settings chosen by the Journal Manager in Step 4.3 Management, Journal Setup, Readers, Reviewers, and/or Authors may be able to self-register for a journal website. If you are unsure whether or not the journal supports self-registration, please contact the journal’s Primary Contact (listed on the “About the Journal” page).

Navigate to your desired journal’s homepage and click “Register” in the navigation bar. This will direct you to a registration form where you can input your user information. In this form you can input personal information, create a username, create a password, fill in your user profile information (E.g., Affiliation, Reviewing Interests, Bio Statement), and select your desired user role. The journal’s “Privacy Statement” will appear at the bottom of the page after the registration form.
The only required fields here are First Name, Last Name, Username, Password, and Email Address. You may also be required to fill in a “Validation” field if the journal has Captcha enabled. Simply enter the text displayed in the Captcha image box in this field. OJS also has an option for generating a random password, if desired.
When you have filled in all the required fields, scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Register.” User information can be edited, changed, or added by signing in, navigating to “User Home”, and clicking “Edit My Profile.”

Designing your Journal Site

Theme Options

OJS supports a few preset themes that will change how your journal website looks. In Step 5. “The Look” of the Journal Setup, you can select your theme using the drop-down menu in 5.6 Journal Management. Please consult this Guide for screenshots of each OJS theme for easy reference.

You can also upload a custom CSS stylesheet if you wish, but that will require more extensive knowledge of HTML and CSS. If you are interested in uploading a custom stylesheet please consult with your Site Administrator and OJS’s Documentation for making Stylesheet Modifications.

Custom Theme Plugin

The Submission Process

Submitting an Article
Assigning Submissions